The Future of Cloud Computing

Since cloud technology first began to take hold in the early 90s it has continually evolved to become one of the biggest advancements in IT to date. With the technology already having come so far, what does the future have in store for cloud computing?

Experts predict that in as little as two years there could be even more advancements in the field of cloud computing and technology. It is estimated that by 2016, over a quarter of all applications will be available to use in the cloud, with the total amount spent on cloud adoption set to rise to $250 billion in 2017.

However, to move all IT requirements to the cloud would be unfeasible for many businesses as they operate within complex environments. As a result of this, it is believed that there will be a more hybrid-focused adoption of the cloud in the future, with Gartner in their forecast for 2011-2017 suggesting that 50 per cent of enterprises will use hybrid cloud technology in 2017.

Software as a service is also expected to become a key offering from cloud computing in the near future, leading to an increase in the importance of software escrow providers to manage these developments. There are currently around 18 million software development companies around the world, yet so far less than 25 per cent of them are developing for the cloud. Experts such as the International Data Corporation (IDC) are confident that by 2017 there will be a significant increase in third-party, commercial and enterprise developers and contributors to the cloud.

Software-as-a-service will also pave the way for further innovations such as XaaS or ‘anything-as-a-service’. Billed by many as the natural evolution of cloud technology, XaaS could see existing IT infrastructures and practices replaced by cloud technology. This is already evident with the rise of Desktop-as-a-service or DaaS, which will encompass all the requirements of a desktop service including; the infrastructure, software, maintenance services and the endpoint hardware i.e a laptop or client device, within one service. This means that instead of having to source all of these components from different providers, the end user can simply receive the whole package from one provider and one location. For a more in-depth look at XaaS read this article from CloudTech.

With increased adoption of cloud technology the market will also become more competitive seeing a reduction in the costs of using the cloud for businesses. Google and Amazon are already competing to offer the best cloud package, both in terms of features and pricing, and this is a trend we can expect to continue.